NATIVE LANDS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2562, 24 July 1909, Page 3

NATIVE LANDS.

THEIR UTILISATION.

DIFFICULTIES IN THE AV AY'LL LOT OF TOMMY-ROT.” '

, A sidelight on the extraordinary manner m which disabilities are'placed in the way of the disposal of Native lands under the present Government was given to a New Zealand “Herald” reporter by Mr G. A. Jackson, engineer to the Waitomata County Council. His story . shows the heed for drastic reforms in connection with the Native Land Court. “Native lands,” said Mr Jackson, “are not getting surveyed as they should be. I can .give you a case in point. As far back as July 5, 1905, I received instructions to survey a certain block of land at Otanake in the King Country, which the Native owners wished to lease to an applicant under the Government’s conditions. I had to commence the work within one month and finish it nothin nine months. AVhen I went to get my information so that I could start the survey I found that the description of the boundaries as given out by the judge of the Native Land Court were very indefinite and obscure. It was impossible to. understand them sometimes. AVe can by going on the ground gather fi’om such of the Natives who had been in Coiirt what the judge was ‘driving at,’ and carry out the work accordingly. To try and do this in the instance I am referring to, I went down to the particular block of land at my own expense and endeavored to fix matters*up, but when I got tliero I found that a whole Nativo village was involved in this subdivision and that the description of the boundaries should have been most carefully .worded to enable a proper survey to be made.. AVhen I found thati I could not possibly do the work pay only course was to apply to the Native Land Court to reopen the case. This I did. Then I had to apply to get my authority to make the survey extended, and I was granted a six months’ extension, from November 8, 1907. Later I received notice from the Survey Department that my authority had lapsed, so I had no more standing in. the case, and could not complete the work. I spent about £2O, and had to lose that. About tlie end of Alay last I received notice through the Gazette that the case was set down for hearing before the Native Laud Court on June 9,1909, at Auckland. The Native owners of the block received a similar notice and came up from the King Country to attend the Court. However, though 1 was the applicant, I had, as I say, no standing owing to tho cancellation of my authority six months before, so [ did not the Court, and the case was struck out. The Maoris had to 'go home again and ‘grizzle alter being brought to Auckland at their own"expense for no result. In the meantime the original applicant for the land had become disgusted and had o-one away. The position new is that the particular block of Native land which the owners .wanted to lease, and for which they had a prospective lessee in 1905, has to lie as at is until somebody else wants to lease it. AVhen that happens tho Alaoris will have to look for another surveyor rash enough to undertake the job, and the same process will have to be repeated. Mr Jackson declared that this was not an isolated case, and that m half the surveys of the Native lauds undertaken by surveyors they found that the orders from the judges were . a lot of tommy-rot.” That was the reason why so many of the Native land surveys could not be done.